


Tea

by sonshineandshowers



Series: After [3]
Category: Prodigal Son (TV 2019)
Genre: Post 1x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:41:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22108783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonshineandshowers/pseuds/sonshineandshowers
Summary: Sometimes the answer is tea with friends.
Relationships: Malcolm Bright & Dani Powell
Series: After [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1590250
Comments: 8
Kudos: 63





	Tea

There were three feet between the file cabinets and the wall. Five next to the printer. Four behind Gil’s desk. Less than one between them when Malcolm finally appeared next to her while she was making tea. “You good?” Dani asked.

It was the first moment she had been more alone, more secluded so the whole station wouldn't hear. The first he was able to gather himself to voice what he needed. “Can you take me home?"

He'd been encumbered by his injuries, walking slowly and ducking away for the quiet, just out of sight so as not to be noticed, yet close enough for him to still see others. Dani had tracked him through his oscillating dance of togetherness and isolation, yet had lost him an hour earlier. “Sure. Walk with me,” she guided, abandoning her tea and leading him out the back of the station.

He couldn't bring himself to leave alone and brave the subway he still hadn't ridden. Couldn't compose a calm facade any longer amidst the pain and anxiousness. Couldn't focus on anything but leaving.

His arms wrapped around his middle, he slowly followed her. "I can bring the car around," she offered.

Yet he kept walking, trailing her all the way to the car. The strapping holding him together broke when he got in, releasing silent tears down his face.

"I'll have you there in 15," she told him softly.

* * *

The verdict was out on whether it took him longer to ask for a ride or leave the car. Stay in, and Dani's concern would creep into her voice. Get out, and he was on his own again. "I can come up for a bit if you want some company," Dani offered after several minutes of silence.

He nodded, not trusting his words to sound anything more than pitiful. Fingers curling around the door handle, he finally managed to extricate himself from the car.

Each stair was a small win. By the time they reached the top, sweat decorated his brow, reminding him how much work he still had to go to reach his former state. He let them in and went straight for the couch, sinking into it. She poured him a glass of water and sat in the chair across from him.

He took a few puffs of a pod, yearning for the calming effects to permeate his bloodstream. A pain pill followed next, downed with gulps of water. He fidgeted, the pillow and blanket he wanted on the bed, yet they seemed too far a distance to retrieve.

She watched his eyes wander across the room. "Whatever you need, I'll get it."

"Pillow. Blanket. Please."

Dani cushioned him into the corner of the couch as she had a few times before. “Wanna try my nan’s special soothing technique?” she asked, which received a faint nod. Kneeling at the arm, she threaded her fingers in his hair, massaging his scalp. He relaxed into the repetitive action, his eyes dipping closed.

"Gonna put me to sleep," he murmured.

"Kinda the point."

"Gotta get me in bed for that." His eyes flew wide to match his heart’s racing over the faux pas. "I mean...I need...the restraints, can't..."

She rested her hand on his shoulder. “Chill, Bright. Going for calming here - not trying to wind you up again."

Yet the tranquility had already been broken. “I should lay down."

She reached her hand out to him, helping him to stand. "C'mon, you've got me 'til you're asleep."

“I owe you."

"Big time."

* * *

Gil had complained he was pushing it coming back in too early. Made him promise not to overdo it, and definitely not step foot outside the station in any attempt to go to a scene. He'd been read the script before and knew what notes to heed.

"Have you seen Bright?" Gil's voice appeared over the line.

"I've got him." Dani explained. "Home, sleeping."

"He alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be back in soon."

She looked over him one more time, satisfied he was settled, and slipped out of his apartment.

* * *

Attempts at sleep brought concrete floors and chains long enough to tease his escape, yet not sufficient slack to attain it. He’d strain until he woke, the bands on his wrists setting him off all over again until he remembered he could clip free. He was home.

When he rose, Malcolm found a note at his bedside table. “Give me a call later if you want to talk. -Dani”

How could he explain the walls were held up by the voices reverberating between them? And each time he was left alone, they crashed. And too many people made them resonate and fall. And… He counted through a few deep breaths, realizing he had traded presence for panic.

A look at his watch told him Dani would likely be home from work. He dialed before fear could get the better of him again. “Bright,” her voice came over the line.

“H-hi,” he stuttered, lacking a plan of what to say.

“You good?”

“Thanks for earlier.”

“Anytime.” When silence continued over the line, she added, “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m…alive.”

She let out a slight chuckle. “Well, that’s good.”

“I don’t know some days.” A sigh and…drips of exhaustion.

"Today?"

"Tired,” he admitted.

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks for making things a bit more…bearable,” he struggled to explain.

“That’s what friends are for.”

“I really don’t know what else to say. I know…I know, I called you, and here I am babbling away about nothing, about -“ he rambled.

“Bright,” she interrupted, worried he’d work himself up again.

“Hmm?”

“Go make some tea,” she instructed.

His mind stopped at the directive jutting into his train of thought. “Why?”

Her smile carried through her voice. “Sometimes the answer is tea with friends.”

“But -“

“I have tea. Go make yourself a cup and have tea with me,” she said firmly.

“Earl Grey?”

“Can’t be up all night. It’s cardamom and ginger,” she read the label off the tag dangling from her mug.

He shuffled through boxes of tea on the shelf. “I don’t have that.”

“Make anything decaf.”

“Camomile.” He extracted a bag. “You have fancier tea than me.”

“My tea is _not_ fancy,” she rebutted.

“I’ve never had it.”

“We’ll change that tomorrow.”

He finished fixing his tea and sat at the countertop. “I have tea. I have friend. Tea with friend.”

She chuckled and smiled through his awkward antics. “Want me to catch you up on the case?” she offered a conversation topic.

“Sure.”

* * *

_fin_


End file.
